


wonderland (a place where only we know)

by wheetato (capaldi)



Category: EXID (Band)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Heist AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 04:52:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14012583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capaldi/pseuds/wheetato
Summary: “If only you tried half as hard to charm this guy as you do with girls we’d be finished by now.” Another voice chimes in, with an annoyance equal to Junghwa’s.Or, the heist AU that nobody asked for.





	1. 180402

**Author's Note:**

> sry, there's gonna be little to no editing process for this one. it's the only way i can realistically finish a multichapter.

“Can someone tell Heeyeon to hurry the hell up because it’s freezing up here.”

There’s a moment of static before she hears a frustrated whisper across the comms.

“I can _hear_ you Junghwa. I’m trying okay, but I haven’t been able to get close. This guy’s just impervious to my flirting.”

Junghwa can feel the tips of her fingers turning numb as she rubs her arms viciously to keep warm. The night wind is brutal, and the altitude from her spot on the roof certainly didn’t help. _Should have worn something warmer_ , she could almost hear the nagging in Solji’s voice. But in her defense she thought Heeyeon would have lifted the keycard for the safe by now.

“If only you tried half as hard to charm this guy as you do with girls we’d be finished by now.” Another voice chimes in, with an annoyance equal to Junghwa’s.

“Ahn Hyojin, you’re welcome to take my place flirting with this terrible excuse for a meatsack.” Junghwa could practically see her gritting her teeth as she spoke.

“Hey hey, play nice now. We’ve got a job to finish,” Solji interjects. There's that nagging. Motherly, Heeyeon describes it. Junghwa just calls it as she see it: annoying.

“You don't have to tell me,” Junghwa retorts, trying not to let the chattering of her teeth permeate their comms. “I've been ready for ages.”

Suddenly, a loud thunk comes across the comms that sounds eerily like the sound of a body hitting the floor. They all pause before Solji responds.

“Uh, is everything okay?”

“Got the keycard!” Heeyeon yells triumphantly.

“Did I just hear a body drop?” It's pretty rare for Hyelin to check in during a job. She's usually browsing the food channel during their jobs. Her part comes later.

“He'll be fine in an hour or two,” Heeyeon replies. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Heeyeon, this isn't what we meant by take care of him.”

“Hey, like I said. You're all welcome to come and do this yourself,” Heeyeon hisses. “I was getting tired of smiling okay my face was starting to cramp.”

“Can you guys have your moral debate some other time?” Junghwa loudly cuts in. “Hypothermia, remember?”

“Heeyeon’s moving towards the lift to the seventeenth floor corridor now,” Hyojin announces. “You're up Junghwa.”

“Finally,” she mutters.

She checks the harness fastened around her waist one last time, before anchoring one end of it to the ground near the roof’s edge. She steps on the ledge of the twenty-four story building until she's balancing her entire weight on the heels of her feet.

This is her favorite part.

Junghwa takes a deep breath and jumps, cascading down uninterrupted for three seconds before she kicks her feet out against the building and skids to a halt. Right in front of the seventeenth floor. She rotates her body slightly to face the glass of the window and fishes around in her back pocket for the laser Hyojin gave her earlier.

_Hold down the red button and aim it at the glass._

Junghwa aims the laser at the window pane and draws an oval the size of her body. The glass burns easily in the wake of her movement, without sound, just like Hyojin promised. After the laser has done its work, she gently presses against the glass cutout and maneuvers her body into the room.

There’s a beep at the door and Junghwa’s body automatically tenses. She’s got one hand on the glass, ready to propel herself out the window in case she needs to make an escape.

“God, you wouldn’t believe the amount of effort it took to get this card.” It’s Heeyeon, in all her bitching glory. “Our client this time better be worth it.”

“Did you disable the motion sensors in the control room?”

“Of course,” Heeyeon replies cheerily. “I’d never leave you hanging.”

Junghwa distinctly remembers at least three instances where Heeyeon’s left her literally hanging from a building but Hyojin’s voice cuts through the comms before they derail any further.

“The safe guys, the safe.”

Junghwa makes her way to the center of the room, where the safe’s encased in a glass dome and positioned mid-air, held together by two long carbon columns. Heeyeon holds the keycard to a sensor pad on the front of the glass dome. A beep, and the glass opens.

The locking mechanism is fairly advanced, one of the newer iterations of impenetrable safes Junghwa’s seen being touted at showcases. Nothing she can’t crack, of course.

“Okay, now use the auto dialer I gave you,” Hyojin instructs. “Stick it on the area next to the lock and you’ll have have the combination in minutes.”

Hyojin had bragged about her little magnetic box for weeks now, something about cutting edge and stroke of genius and a lot of other technical things Junghwa hadn’t been paying attention to. She rolls the box in one hand as she stares at the lock. A new lock she’s never worked with before.

She’s never been one to walk away from a challenge.

Junghwa takes out her earpiece and shoots Heeyeon a look, who smiles back knowingly and similarly removes her earpiece as well. Junghwa nods back a thanks and tucks Hyojin’s creation back into her bag, taking out her own equipment instead. She puts one end of the listening device into her ears and the other against the door of the safe.

She closes her eyes and listens.

No one really teaches her about safe cracking. Or social skills. Or anything aside from her particular brand of skillsets. But somewhere along the way though, Junghwa learns it’s something she has a natural affinity for. It’s also something she loves. Sort of like diving off buildings. It’s a different kind of exhilaration where she can hear her heart pounding in the silence of her focus.

And cracking safes is better than cracking skulls.

She’s not sure how many minutes had passed when she suddenly hears the muffled voice of Hyojin in the room.

“I know both of you have pulled out your earpieces _again_ so I’ve taken the liberty to hack into the sound system in your room. They’ve found the disabled motion sensors. There are guards heading to your floor now.”

Another thing Junghwa loves. The absolute adrenaline coursing through her body from the pressure of having to crack the safe before she’s caught. It’s not a shared sentiment among her crew, as evidenced by the strained annoyance in Hyojin’s voice.

Heeyeon understands though, and stays calm as she keeps a lookout through the peephole on the door. Junghwa’s almost got the last digit.

“They’re nearly on your floor. I estimate a little under three minutes before arrival,” Hyojin warns.

Finally, she hears that last click and immediately enters the six digit code.

1-8-0-4-0-2.

The safe door creaks open.

“Grab it and go,” Hyojin yells. Junghwa doesn’t question how she can _see_ her opening the safe but just chalks it up to another one of her hacks. She quickly takes the packet from the safe and slides it into her bag.

“Too late,” Heeyeon says. “They’re on the floor. We can’t exit this way.”

“Junghwa,” Solji’s voice cuts clearly though the comms. “Can your rope hold two people’s weights?”

Junghwa glances at Heeyeon, who shakes her head vehemently.

“Guess we’ll find out,” she grins and throws her own harness at Heeyeon, who makes this indiscernible whining noise as she puts it on.

She’s barely hooked the end of the rope onto Heeyeon’s harness when the guards bust through the doors, four guns pointed directly at them.

Before they even have the chance to say stop, Junghwa grabs the rope with both hand and jumps, throwing the two of them backwards out the window. Heeyeon’s screams can barely be heard over the shriek of the wind as they make a straight drop for the ground.

The whole thing lasts barely ten seconds but Heeyeon tells her later that it felt like a few eternities. The rope tugs them backwards to a sharp halt, just a few feet from the ground.

“God I could have DIED,” Heeyeon shrieks, between heavy breaths of panic.

“I measured the rope exactly to height on the blueprint of the building. Don’t be dramatic.” Junghwa rolls her eyes, ignoring Heeyeon’s continued screeching as she takes out her phone to check on her hair.

“Hey, if the two of you are done yelling and fixing your hair can you get your asses in?”

Solji yells at the two of them as she drives by, in possibly the least discreet getaway ride imaginable.

“Is that a…red Ferrari?” Junghwa squints.

“Beggars can’t be choosers now get in,” Solji demands, as the two of the quickly hop into the backseat. Her foot slams on the pedal before either of their body even touches the leather of the seats, leaving a trail of angry guards chasing in their wake.

They speed past five lights and cut through a few one way streets before Solji confirms into the comms.

“Alright, I got them.”

“Thank god,” Hyojin sighs heavily. “Our client’s paying us good money for this.”

It’s something she always does. Hyojin who hides her concern by pretending to be in it for the money. But Junghwa knows her. Can hear the way her voices wavers for a split second. A strand of worry slipping through a singular crack in her voice. It’s the same as the first time Junghwa heard it, when she was hovering on the brink of death.

“We’re gonna have a talk about methods when we get back,” Solji glares at Junghwa through the rear view mirror, who immediately scowls. “But all in all, the mission was a success.”

“SHE THREW US OUT OF A TWENTY FOUR STORY BUILDING!”

Junghwa laughs as she hears two clicks in her earpiece, of Hyojin and Hyelin both signing out.

 

\---

 

Junghwa hates the post-mission review, but it’s something Solji put in place to “improve on their methods and efficiencies”. Heeyeon uses it as a sort of complaint box and Hyojin uses it to personally attack Junghwa.

“We could have avoided all the craziness towards the end if Junghwa had just _listened_ to me for once.”

“My methods worked just fine okay,” Junghwa retorts. “You’re just mad you didn’t get to test out your little box.”

“For the ninth time, it’s not a box it’s a highly advanced auto dialer,” Hyojin shoots back.

“ _Constructive_ criticism, remember?” Solji emphasizes.

“How’s this for constructive,” Heeyeon pipes up. “Junghwa, without any regards for my safety, just-”

“God if you bring up the trauma of your fall again I swear to god I’m gonna throw you out _this_ building.”

“Hey guys,” Hyelin cuts in. They all turn to her as she holds up the contents of the packet - a metal plate and a wad of cash. “These are consecutively marked bills.”

“What does that mean?” Heeyeon asks.

Hyelin holds up the metal plate closer for them to see.

“This is a printing plate for the 50,000 won bill.”

 

 

 


	2. casualty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the lejung backstory or smth i didn't mean to make it so angsty i'm sry

She has nightmares, constantly.

It's not like the movies, where people wake up screaming bloody murder. No, she's the only one doing the murdering.

Junghwa doesn't even remember most of their names, but their lifeless faces, one by one makes an appearance when she slips under her covers at night. Sometimes she goes months without having one. Sometimes it's consecutive nights of terror.

Always, she wakes in a cold sweat, wanting to turn the gun from her dreams on herself.

Her crew members know about her past. But they don't ask and for that she's grateful. Because how do you explain that being a murder for hire was your whole life. And that she didn’t necessarily hate it. Or even think much about it.

“You should give them some credit you know,” Hyojin tells her once. “They’re not gonna blame you. They know that you didn’t choose that life. You were born into it.”

It’s the same mantra that Junghwa sometimes sings to herself when she has those nightmares, when she flinches as Heeyeon gets a paper cut (the hue of blood is a hard one to forget), when she thinks about how close she was to losing Hyojin that day.

 _It wasn’t your fault._ _It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t your fault._

There’s an expiration date probably, for how long she can hide behind that line.

“You know what’s worse than blame,” Junghwa replies. “Pity. I don’t think I could take that kind of pity from them.”

“Did I pity you when you told me?” Hyojin counters.

No, not Hyojin. Hyojin, who knows everything about her and doesn't bat an eye. Doesn't condemn her for her moral choices, doesn’t try to console her or try to “make it better”, doesn't pretend that she wasn't once a terrible terrible person who made terrible terrible choices.

Hyojin takes her hand and leads her to her room the first time she gets those dreams and asks what's wrong. Like she sees straight through her ( _you didn't take any sugar in your coffee when you usually load it with an entire ladle and oh, you forgot to wash your face before breakfast,_ she explains later).

 _I’m fine, it’s fine,_ Junghwa laughs it off and tries to wrest her hand away. But Hyojin just holds on tighter.

_Stop laughing. You’re not fine._

Junghwa cries before her mouth can formulate the words. The tears just start streaking down her cheeks and she squeezes her left arm tight, trying to stem the flow.

Hyojin pulls her in, and Junghwa automatically releases her grip on her arm and reaches both arms around Hyojin's waist, clinging onto her like a buoy in an ocean, like she'd stop breathing if she let go.

She remembers how soft Hyojin's hands were when they sifted through her hair in gentle, rhythmic movements.

Nobody says anything when Junghwa starts sleeping in Hyojin's room that night.

 

\---

 

She remembers the day she received Hyojin's name. She'd gotten back from her morning workout and a folder was slid under the space beneath her door like always.

Ahn LE. Renowned game developer and co-founder of one of the largest gaming corporations in the country. Junghwa's heard of her outside of her file. A complete recluse who manages her company mostly from the shadows and only makes the occasional necessary appearance for press releases. If she recalls correctly, they recently made headlines for picking up rising actress Ahn Heeyeon for their endorsements.

Seemed like your standard corporate overlord, Junghwa ponders as she flips through the pages.  

Her file though, tells a different story.

According to the notes, LE’s company is just a front for hosting some of the most advanced military-grade weapons technology. There are pages upon pages of blueprints for weapons she's been suspected of developing. Most of it is redacted, not that Junghwa understands any of it to begin with. It seems impressive enough though, especially for someone to have ordered a professional hit.

Not to brag or anything, but her services didn’t come cheap. The company decides on the fee depending on job difficulty and risk of publicity, but Junghwa only gets called in for the most prolific jobs.

She closes the file. She’s never took much stock in victim profiles. As long as she knows the location and scope of area surrounding her target, it’s enough to carry out the hit. She doesn't need to analyze their entire backstory to deliver on the kill.

The plan was, get dropped from a plane onto the roof, where she scales down one story to where Ahn LE resided. From there Junghwa plants the small explosive device on the window furthest away from LE’s bedroom and waits while it shatters the glass. The point of explosion is when she makes her entrance, using that element of surprise to get within distance of the victim.

Except when she drops down from the roof, there is no glass for her to plant the explosive. The exact pane she was supposed to enter through was missing.

It stuns her, for a whole second to see Ahn LE just standing there in a bathrobe. Coffee in one hand, gun in the other.

"Hey, figured I'd come greet you."

Junghwa immediately reaches for her own gun and nearly has it fully drawn when she feels something hit her left shoulder. It's not a bullet because there’s no familiar shredding of lead through skin. It feels more like a sting.

There's a dart protruding from her shoulder.

In seconds, her world fades to black.

 

\--

 

It’s still dark when she wakes.

She tries to stand but immediately loses her balance when her arms are tugged backwards, causing her to fall back onto the floor. It takes her a moment to realize her hands are cuffed behind her, to a leg of a bed.

“I see you’re awake,” a voice emerges from the shadows. “You know, any normal person would have been out for the night.”

“Ahn LE,” Junghwa glares at the figure looming over her, still clad in the same bathrobe as when she greeted her earlier.

“Please, call me Hyojin.” she replies. “I think we can skip the formalities now that you’ve tried to kill me once.”

It irks her, the way _Hyojin_ just states the obvious. The nonchalance in her voice, free of bitterness or hatred. Not like her other targets. Usually there’s a whole range of emotion - anger from having their life taken from them, or desperation when they’re begging for their lives.

Hyojin sounds like she’s bored.

“How’d you know,” Junghwa blurts out. It’s been bugging her ever since she came to. “You didn’t just know that I was coming, you knew exactly which route I’d take.”

Hyojin smirks, the first expression she’s shown all evening. It annoys Junghwa to no end.

“You should give yourself some credit. You managed to avoid all the camera hotspots on the roof,” Hyojin applauds her. “But I have thermal imaging built into the floor of the roof. It alerts me whenever it detects a foreign heat signature, like yours.”

She’s smart, and prepared. That’s why the direct approach didn’t work on her. Junghwa’s used to targets she can assassinate in her sleep.

“From there, I just guessed what your optimal route would be, while following the direction of your heat signature,” Hyojin takes a remote control looking thing from the table and aims it to her left, at the window. “I designed all my windows to be retractable, and I figured it would surprise you if I removed the glass where you were supposed to make your landing.”

It chills her. How many steps ahead she is. She’s a strategist for sure, a diametric opposite from Junghwa who operates almost entirely on instinct.

“You’ve done this before,” Junghwa points out. “This clearly isn’t your first time dealing with an intruder.”

“I’ve had a lot of houseguests over the years,” Hyojin shrugs agreeably. “There are all sorts of people who are after my creations. But I’m honored because this is the first time I’ve entertained a professional killer.”

It’s not like Junghwa takes pride in her work, but she doesn’t shrink away from it either. It’s not just a job she’s really good at, but a sort of lifestyle she’s gotten accustomed to.

But this is the first time someone’s called her a killer and she’s felt a drop of shame.

“What gave it away,” she snorts, still trying to gather whatever shred of dignity she has left.

“When you drew your gun,” Hyojin comments. “Your draw was incredibly fast, and if I’d fired even a second later, I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you.”

“God, are you just bragging about how smart you are now,” Junghwa rolls her eyes, in a grandiose gesture of annoyance.

“That was a compliment dumbass,” Hyojin smiles and then crouches down to her level before leaning in closer. “Although it was pretty fun to get the drop on you.”

Junghwa lunges forward out of anger but comes a few inches short of reaching Hyojin, as the restraint on her wrists stop her momentum. She realizes just now, that there’s something soft and itchy poking at the skin around the cuffs.

“Is there…….fur around these cuffs?” Junghwa asks, with a tone of astonishment.

Hyojin shrugs. “These were the only ones I had on me.”

“What’s the point of the fur it doesn’t seem to add to the restraint?” Junghwa asks blankly.

Hyojin pauses and raises one brow at her.

“What do you think it’s for?”

“The cuffs?” Junghwa stares at her as Hyojin nods. “Is this a trick question? Aren’t cuffs for restraining people what else would they be for?”

Hyojin starts laughing and Junghwa can almost feel herself popping a vein.

“We’re gonna have so much fun together.”

Before Junghwa can refute the statement or even decipher its meaning, a loud beeping sound draws both their attention. She watches as Hyojin walks over to her computer and starts opening a bunch of different windows, some with text and some with moving images. She swears loudly before turning to Junghwa and asking.

“Did you have backup coming?

“What?”

“Did you send backup to finish the job?”

“What? No.”

“Are you lying to me?” There’s none of that banter in her voice now. The newly introduced harshness in her tone belies the threatening connotation of her question.

“No,” Junghwa frowns, shaking her head. “I always do my jobs on my own. I don’t need backup.”

“Hmm,” Hyojin contemplates, as if still considering whether to believe her or not. “Then I guess it’s my lucky day, because it looks like I’m under attack for the second time tonight.”

Hyojin returns to her computer and Junghwa watches as her typing occasionally triggers voice commands coming from speakers placed somewhere in the room. _Initiating complete thermal imaging. Shield status: ON. Shield capacity level: four._

“What’s going on,” she asks. “How many hostiles is it?”

The typing doesn’t stop, even as Hyojin turns her face slightly to give her a half smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep us safe”

It’s frustrating enough to have been outsmarted on her mission, but to be relegated to watching as her captor saves them both is a new level of embarrassment. Junghwa’s been brainstorming of ways to get out of her cuffs ever since she came to, and the only option she could think of involved the wire in her bra strap. Maneuvering her restrained hands underneath her shirt is an incredibly uncomfortable process, and the fur tickling her skin definitely didn’t help.

She’s almost got it unhooked when she hears the blast.

“Fuck,” Hyojin hisses. “How’d these kids get their hands on military grade explosives.”

 _Shield capacity: eighty percent,_ has both of them on edge as Hyojin starts throwing out swears with higher frequency. Junghwa feels the last clasp coming undone and starts trying to strip the wire from the fabric of the strap.

_Warning, warning! Shield nearing maximum capacity._

“That can’t be good,” Junghwa notes.

“They’re really out for blood huh,” Hyojin stretches her arms. “Well two can play at this game.”

She’s been nothing short of annoying so far yet Junghwa can’t help but admire her intelligence. The sheer fact that Hyojin managed to get the drop on her is impressive enough, considering Junghwa’s flawless record of mission completion.

_Offensive mode: initiated. Commencing maximum offensive capacity. Shields powering down in five, four, three, two-_

The windows all shatter at once, and multiple figures come simultaneously swinging into the room. Junghwa counts at least twenty hostiles. She’s finally stripped out the tip of the wire from her strap but there’s no time. They’ll be firing on them within seconds.

She looks at Hyojin, but sees her smiling.

Not a second after their feet touch the floor, they all drop to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain. Junghwa swears she can see sparks.

“Pretty cool huh,” Hyojin remarks. “I set the floor to basically electrocute any foreign heat signature that isn’t mine or yours. I didn’t think I’d have to resort to this but seeing how they got past my shields, there was really no other option.”

It’s chilling. Ahn Hyojin disposes of two dozen professional killers in a blink of an eye. With a few strokes of her keyboard and without incurring any casualties.

Junghwa blurts out without thinking.

“You’re amazing.”

All the smiles Hyojin has thrown at her tonight has been either in smugness or amusement or some combination of both. But this one, this one right in front of her, where her eyes light up and the ends of her lips curves upwards into this intensely brilliant smile just _feels_ genuine.

It doesn’t last.

Junghwa sees a shadow from the corner of her eye. A flicker of movement from one of the bodies on the floor.

“Look out,” she shrieks.

She barely hears the shot, her senses only capturing the image in front of her, of Hyojin falling almost in slow motion to the ground.

“Shit,” Hyojin curses weakly, holding the area where she’s shot.

In seconds, Junghwa fiddles out of her cuffs. The figure lying on the floor raises his gun for another shot but only manages to graze Junghwa’s left arm. In seconds, she stomps his wrist against the ground, and snatches the gun from his grip.

She recognizes Hyojin’s muffled voice in the background, but the only thing she can hear clearly is the thundering rage pulsing through her veins.

She doesn’t even know why she’s angry. Is it because Hyojin’s shot? That doesn't make sense, not when she's known Hyojin for all of an hour.

But her fingers curl around the trigger with conviction; she doesn’t hesitate.

Two in the head.

So much for not incurring casualties.

 


	3. the happy-hungry monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mostly filler, sorry

They come from differing backgrounds, all of them. Solji was a doctor, one of those eager save-the-world types. It’s what makes her treat a patient against their parents’ wishes, and it’s what loses her license in the process.

Heeyeon was, and still is one of the most prolific actresses the nation has seen. Hyojin doesn’t think she’s any good although the entirety of South Korea would beg to differ. She calls Heeyeon a B-rate actress with A-lister popularity.

Hyelin was an art curator once, but somewhere along the line she realizes it’s more fun to fence art than to curate them. She’s the one who helps orchestrate a lot of the missions. It helps to have contacts in the criminal underworld.

Hyojin, she makes headlines in a different way. One of the richest billionaires liquidates all her company shares overnight, relinquishing control over one of the most profitable and on-the-rise companies. The public doesn’t hear from her ever since.

And Junghwa. Retired assassin who’s now part time breaking and entering expert, and full time ramen enthusiast.

They’re one hell of a rag-tag team, but they’re also effective.

It starts with Solji being bored and out of work, what with her medical license having been suspended and all. And Hyelin jokingly suggesting that she could help her out with some of her fencing work if she’s that bored.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Solji ruminates, while Hyelin spits out a mouthful of iced coffee.

“What did you say?” she sputters as Solji wipes her mouth for her with a napkin.

“I said, that’s not a bad idea, provided we tweak some things,” Solji clarifies.

“Tweaking” apparently consisted of the exact opposite of what Hyelin was suggesting. Instead of participating in illegal activity for personal monetary gain, they’d only take on jobs and clients where there’s a potential to help someone in the process.

“I should have known that’s what you were thinking,” Hyelin groans.

“We should draw up a crew. I already have a few names in mind,” Solji beams, smiling widely.

She gets in contact with Heeyeon first, because that girl is always up for a challenge. The second she pitches their Robin Hood-esque scheme to her, Heeyeon is already excitedly chatting about ways in which she could contribute ( _you had me at illegal activity,_ she admits later). She also brings Hyojin’s name into the conversation.

Solji doesn’t really know anything about Hyojin aside from what the news articles were saying, and that time she got called in to save her from a timely demise. That was a weird situation for everyone involved, and she didn’t ask many questions. Heeyeon vouched for her then, and she’s vouching for her now. That’s good enough for Solji.

It takes a lot of convincing to get Hyojin on board though. And most of that final disgruntled _yes_ is attributed to Junghwa having goaded her into accepting. She was getting restless. There’s only so much lounging around you can do at home and she didn’t think she could sit through Hyojin playing Dark Souls for a third consecutive time.

They cycle through different roles at first, trying to find the best fit for each member. It’s harder than they expect, and it starts off pretty rocky at first. Junghwa nearly knifes a guy for drawing out his wallet ( _I thought it was a gun okay,_ she protests). They start training her on her people skills. Try to smile and not scowl so much, they coach her.

“Smile like you do when I bring you your favorite ramen,” Hyojin suggests, trying to make this more relatable and easier to understand.

“But I like both you and ramen,” Junghwa frowns. “And I definitely don’t like any of the guys I’ve tried conning.”

Hyojin blushes faintly at the comment and tries to change the conversation while Heeyeon and Hyelin snicker in the background.

“Okay let’s try something else,” Solji suggest. “Heeyeon can use her acting skills to cozy up to our targets while Junghwa sticks to the breaking and entering part.” Junghwa wholeheartedly voices her agreement.

“And Hyojin,” Solji turns to her. “Instead of just complaining all the time.” She ignores her pointed, _I don’t complain._ “You can help provide safer routes for both Heeyeon and Junghwa by hacking into the buildings’ systems.”

“Fine, fine,” she mumbles. “But what exactly do the two of you contribute to all of this?” She points at Solji and Hyelin.

Before Solji can answer, Hyelin jumps to her rescue.

“Solji’s obviously the brains of the operation and I,” Hyelin directs her thumb at herself. “I bring us the clients. While also doubling as your resident criminal consultant.”

“Oh and I have some mean driving skills,” Solji pipes up, eyes suddenly sparkling at the idea.

It’s not a well oiled machine from the start, but gradually their success rate increases case over case. Sure they’ve had to deal with their share of dissatisfied clients at first ( _how hard can it be to secure a file from a low security building,_ Solji has to hold Junghwa back for that one). But all the pieces start moving into place, and eventually, they make a sort of name for themselves. Akin to a detective agency, but one who has no problem bending the rules.

They finally buy some building space with their hard earned client money, a real office with a real sign to work from. Hyojin complains about how her money could have bought them a whole building from the beginning, but Solji insists there’s added value in spending the money the five of them worked hard to earn.

They fight over what to name themselves, and it’s like a war of terrible suggestions. The Fantastic Five ( _too cheesy,_ Heeyeon complains), Good Girls Gone Bad ( _this isn’t a porno,_ Hyojin glares at Heeyeon), and Junghwa doesn’t understand why they need a name at all.

Solji though, has a sort of eureka moment before digging in her bag and pulling out a notebook.

“I’ve wanted to make a band ever since I was young,” she explains, while Heeyeon gushes immediately about how cool that sounds and Hyelin just snorts in response. “There’s a name I always wanted to use.”

She rips out the page for all of them to see. In clear handwriting, it reads: EXID.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean,” Hyojin blurts out.

“Exceed in Dreaming,” Solji enunciates in English, while Heeyeon oohs and ahhs around them. “It means we’re always striving to be better, always working our hardest.”

Heeyeon has had heart eyes since the beginning of the conversation so it was obvious what her answer would be. Hyojin sighs and just does this noncommittal nodding motion while Junghwa shrugs her shoulder in agreement.

“Hey, how come _that_ isn’t too cheesy of a name?!” Hyelin yells indignantly.

 

\---

 

It’s supposed to be a very straightforward job. The client claimed that a competing company had stolen the blueprints for their latest product, and they were just tasked with stealing it back.

The client did make them promise not to open the package they were stealing, which should have raised a red flag. Fortunately, Hyelin has never been great at following directions.

But they certainly weren’t expecting this. A printing plate for the highest currency in the country. Clearly, the blueprint story was just a front for some serious counterfeiting venture these two companies were running here.

“The detail on the plate is astonishing,” Hyelin exclaims. “This would pass any visual inspection. And by the time anyone caught on, there’d be tons of these already in circulation.”

“Okay when you’re done admiring the work,” Solji rolls her eyes. “We need a plan for how this is gonna work.”

“Don’t you just report this to the police and call it a day?” Hyojin muses.

“We could…..but that would only get this plate off the market,” Solji explains. “We didn’t leave a trace when we stole this plate, so both parties could deny all liability and they’d get off scot-free.”

“What are you thinking,” Junghwa asks.

“We could hold a bidding war for the plate,” Solji suggests. “Like a pretend no-holds auction and invite both companies to participate. That would draw them out for sure, and then we can call the cops once one of them wins the auction.”

“Solji’s got the best plans, that’s for sure,” Heeyeon touts in a sing-songy voice.

“There’d be a fair amount of risk though,” Solji warns. “I’m sure they’d both carve out some plan to take the plate simply by force. We’ll have to be pretty careful with this one.”

“Yah,” Hyojin slaps Heeyeon on the back, who yelps as her phone falls out of her hand. “That means stop checking your texts with that cute cashier from the last job.”

“ARIN ISN’T JUST A CUTE CASHIER SHE’S AN WELL BALANCED YOUNG LADY OKAY.”

“She’s just charmed by the fact that you saved her life,” Hyelin drawls. “It’s just a phase. She’ll be over it before you know it.”

“Stop sabotaging my relationship before it even has time to bloom.”

“The only reason she’s starry eyed over you is because you happened to swoop in and save her life,” Hyelin points out.

“EXCUSE YOU,” Heeyeon seethes, jabbing her index finger confrontationally at Hyelin. “You’re not the one who took a bullet for her troubles.”

Junghwa flinches, and maybe her entire body goes rigid for a whole two seconds. Nobody notices. Solji suddenly has her hands full mediating the burgeoning fight between Hyelin and Heeyeon. Hyelin throwing back lines like _I wasn’t even there dumbass_ and _I’m not that thirsty I have standards_ certainly didn’t help.

But from the corner of her eye she sees Hyojin’s gaze on her. It doesn’t shift, not even when Solji grabs Heeyeon by the ear and Heeyeon lets out the most strangled of shrieks.

Junghwa wants to turn around. To look Hyojin in the eye and laugh about Heeyeon and Hyelin’s sulky expressions. To break out the mother hen jokes about Solji, and then ask Hyelin what’s for dinner.

And so she does all of that, laughs with her whole body at the fighting duo because _do you guys know how ridiculous you look_ and _thank god mother was here to break up the fight,_ ignoring Solji’s _stop acting like I’m two decades older when I’ve only got a couple years on you guys._ Apparently Hyelin’s been itching to try out this new recipe she saw online. Junghwa does all of that without meeting Hyojin’s eyes even once.

Because she’s terrified that if she looks at Hyojin, her eyes will betray what her body did in those two horrifying seconds.

Shame.

 

\--

 

Avoidance tactics are notoriously ineffective with Hyojin. Junghwa knows because she’s tried.

It’ll range from something as innocuous as who ate the last of her shrimp chips and Junghwa pretending she suddenly can’t hear and Hyojin yelling from her room that _yah Park Junghwa I know you’re the only one brave enough to go through my snack drawer,_ to that time she tried to skirt around Hyojin for a whole week after she kissed her on a whim.

Hyojin is lazy about a lot of things, but annoyingly diligent when it comes to confronting Junghwa.

So it doesn’t surprise her when the bathroom door unlocks as she’s trying to squeeze out the last of the toothpaste. She doesn’t need to look in the mirror to know it’s Hyojin standing behind her,

“I hope you’re here to tell me we have more toothpaste because last time I checked, the bathroom is strictly a one person activity,” Junghwa notes dryly, before tossing the empty tube in the trash.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, that’s why you’ve been avoiding me-”

“I have _not_ been avoiding you,” Junghwa contests.

“Anyways,” Hyojin ignores her, clearly conditioned to her style of denial. “I just came to check that you’re okay.”

It’s sweet, however casual Hyojin wants to make it. And it’s small sentiments like this that tug at the corners of her heart and the corners of her lips. Junghwa bites back the smile, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by Hyojin.

“Besides, you know for a fact that bathrooms can be repurposed for many things,” Hyojin murmurs, before stepping forward and slinking her arms around her waist, fingers tapping gently around the elastic band of her shorts.

“Repurposed huh,” Junghwa hums. She could feel Hyojin’s lips dragging at the nape of her neck, seeking permission. That’s always how it starts - a lingering gaze, fingers tapping on her knees moving to her thighs, a lean forward into her space, close enough that they’re sharing the same breath.

But in the end, Hyojin always defers to her. Always waits for her to make the first move. And something about that excites Junghwa.

“I thought you were gonna therapist me again,” Junghwa lowers her head a bit so Hyojin has better access to her neck. “Tell me how okay it is for me to screw up over and over again.” Her breath hitches as Hyojin nips gently at the base of her neck at her invitation.

“You didn’t screw up,” she pauses momentarily to explain, and cuts Junghwa off before she interrupts. “It was a physical, bodily reflex. There’s nothing you could have done.”

“I got Heeyeon shot,” Junghwa says flatly.

She feels Hyojin sigh against her back before withdrawing. The mood’s already shot by now, and Junghwa confirms it when she turns around to a face of exasperation.

“Always knew that girl Heeyeon was trouble,” Hyojin jokes. “Just the mention of her name can kill the air.”

Junghwa laughs a little, not a lot because guilt is this happy-hungry monster and she only has it sort of under control. Hyojin helps, with her not too inquiring nature and abundance of kindness, of patience. Junghwa reaches forward to brush the stray hairs in her face to the side.

“I love you, you know,” Junghwa whispers.

Hyojin curls her hands around her fingers and presses a soft kiss to her knuckles.

“I know.”

 

\--

 

Junghwa dreams. Of the time Heeyeon was in the coffee shop with the target. She was on the next roof over, monitoring the situation through the scope of her sniper rifle.

It was supposed to be just for insurance. They found out last minute that the guy they’d been trying to shake down had ties to a local mob and Junghwa was just there to provide backup. _Aim to incapacitate, not kill_ , they remind her as she rolls her eyes and tells them she knows how to handle a gun.

He pulls a fast one on them, but not that fast because she spots his hand making suspicious movements around his jacket long before he draws. Her finger tightens around the trigger.

She could have taken him out easily, before he even drew his gun. Before he’d grabbed the cashier and turned it into a hostage situation. Before Heeyeon got shot trying to grab the gun away from him.

But Junghwa froze. Like she was rooted in place. Complete physical paralysis as thoughts of panic coursed through her mind. Her throat felt like it was closing, like she wasn’t getting any air-

“Junghwa!”

She wakes to Hyojin shaking her arm, eyes wide with concern.

“Sorry” she mumbles, touching her throat as if confirming her airway’s no longer constricted. “Did I wake you up?”

“Don’t be sorry. You were…...saying things,” Hyojin answers slowly.

“Sorry.”

“I said don’t be - never mind,” Hyojin shakes her head. “C’mon, let’s go back to sleep.”

Junghwa nods and allows Hyojin to tug her closer. Head tucked her chin, and arms wrapped around her midsection like a protective shell, Junghwa closes her eyes and waits as Hyojin’s rhythmic breathing lulls her back to sleep.

 


	4. code black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sry for this flaming pile of garbage i literally wrote this in 90 minutes sry

She can count the number of times she’s been in a panic on one hand. Her first mission, that one time she thought she’d finished her last pack of ramen and the nearest convenience store was already closed, and maybe that time a bullet very nearly grazed her heart.

Nothing like this. She’s screaming, there’s probably more blood pooling to her own head than there was around Hyojin.

“Please....stop yelling,” Hyojin pleads hoarsely, bringing one bloodied hand from the wound to her head. Junghwa immediately replaces it with her own, keeping pressure on the wound.

“What do I do,” she asks, still in that high pitched tone that makes Hyojin wince. “Tell me what to do.”

“My phone,” Hyojin starts. “Get me my phone from my desk.”

Junghwa nods and forces both of Hyojin’s hands back on her wound before dashing towards her desk and grabbing her phone by the keyboard.

“Okay okay what’s your passcode?” Junghwa rushes, fingers fidgeting around the device in her hand

“0508.”

There’s something familiar about the sequence of those numbers but Junghwa doesn’t waste any time contemplating. It unlocks immediately.

“Okay, now,” Hyojin groans again, which makes Junghwa bite back a wince of her own. “Hit 2 on speed-dial.”

“Shouldn’t I just call 911?” Junghwa asks.

“Right, and how are you gonna explain your presence here exactly?” Hyojin shoots back, which causes Junghwa to look away guiltily. She almost forgot her what her initial intentions were for moment there.

“Can you just...not to be dramatic but I’m dying here,” Hyojin points out dryly.

“Right, right, sorry!” Junghwa quickly punches two on the numpad.

It rings six times. Junghwa almost thinks they’d never pick up.

“ _Yah, Hyojin it’s almost 2am are you joking?”_ the voice answers.

“Um,” Junghwa turns to Hyojin, confused.

“Just tell her to get her ass here asap,” Hyojin instructs.

“ _Wait…….why’s your voice like that Hyojin-ah?”_

“Uh, she’s asking you to come here now if possible,” Junghwa answers meekly.

“ _Who the hell are you? Yah HYOJIN-AH!”_

“CAN YOU JUST GET YOUR ASS HERE AHN HEEYEON IT’S A CODE BLACK,” she all but hollers, coughing at the way the sudden movement worsens the pain of the wound.

“Please, just come quick. She’s seriously injured,” Junghwa whispers into the phone.

She’s met with the dial tone before she even finishes the sentence. She looks back toward Hyojin skeptically.

“It’s okay, she’ll come,” Hyojin says reassuringly. “I just gotta hang in there until then.”

It’s ironic, and maybe just a tad bit annoying that Hyojin’s the one reassuring her. Her mark, who spared her life for whatever reason, before turning around and saving her from a hoard of invaders. The one who’s currently staining the floorboards a dark wine red.

Hyojin’s still talking - she knows because her lips are moving, but Junghwa can’t hear a thing. There’s only one thing running through her head.

_This is your fault._

 

\---

 

She all but kicks the door down.

Not in a literal sense because Hyojin’s door is made of reinforced steel but in the sense that she’s pounding on it with every inch of her being yelling Hyojin’s name as she does.

Junghwa rushes to let her in before Hyojin’s headache transforms into a whole aneurysm.

Heeyeon stumbles in - Junghwa barely recognizes her without the makeup and red carpet attire. She gives Junghwa a quick glance before rushing to where Hyojin’s lying on the floor.

To her surprise, she’s followed by two other girls. One with red hair and one with short, greenish hair. The red haired girl kneels next to Hyojin and starts opening what looks to be a med kit. She starts to glove up and signals the green haired girl to tie her hair back for her.

“Tell me it’s worse than it looks Solji,” Hyojin jokes weakly.

“Shut up,” Solji grits. She puts her hands out and tenderly examines the entrance of the bullet wound, slightly lifting Hyojin on her side so she can examine her back. All the while Junghwa’s pacing back and forth, trying to think of anything but the way Hyojin’s grimacing at Solji’s every touch.

“You’re a lucky one,” Solji finally answers. “Looks like the bullet went through and through. Missed your vitals also.”

“Guess the tide’s finally turning in my favor,” Hyojin says dryly.

Solji shoots Junghwa a glare before standing back up. “You both have a lot of explaining to do.” Junghwa nearly withers at the tone of her words. “But first, let’s get her to the bed so we can stabilize her.”

Heeyeon nods at her words and starts lifting Hyojin in conjunction with Solji, being careful not to make any missteps that might aggravate her wound further. Junghwa swears she hears Heeyeon hiss a “stop being a baby” at some point.

“Looks like they’ve got it under control,” the short haired girl remarks. She sidles up next to Junghwa and introduces herself, “Hey, I’m Hyelin.”

“I- “ Junghwa’s taken back. She’s not sure what to say. Her name? What if they ask her for more? Like what she is doing here? Because how does she even begin to answer that? _Oh by the way, I was contracted to kill your friend here and I’m the reason she’s bleeding all over her expensive white sheets._

“That’s okay,” Hyelin retracts. “We can talk about this later, when Hyojin’s more stable. I’m sure she’ll be able to give us the full story.”

She’s kind, this girl. They all are. Just by not asking and giving her space, the benefit of the doubt. When she doesn’t deserve any of it.

“I-,” Junghwa starts again, and hesitates. Disgusting, when Hyojin’s being this brave and holding on for her life - she can’t even manage one measly sentence of truth.

“I was contracted to kill her,” Junghwa blurts out, loud enough that she sees Solji and Heeyeon turn their heads to stare. There’s a silence, and she closes her eyes. Maybe if she’s lucky they’ll put her out of her misery here and then.

“Well, that’s rough,” Hyelin breathes out. “There’s a lot to uncover here I guess.”

Junghwa creaks one eye open just in time to see Heeyeon roll her eyes and Solji throw her head back in a sigh.

“Is that….it?” Junghwa asks in disbelief. She was expecting a lot more physicality, or some anger at the very least. Not this level of indifference for sure. And is that exasperation she sees on Solji’s face? “I mean you heard me when I said I tried to kill her right?”

“Well you’re not trying to kill her now are you?” Hyelin points out.

No, she’s not.

And really, why isn’t she. If she really wanted, she could take all of them right there. They clearly had zero combat experience from the looks of it. And what with Hyojin’s guard down, there were no other defenses. It’s the perfect opportunity to complete her mission.

Instead, she’s too busy obsessing over her own guilt. Just two days ago, her mission consisted of seven casualties and if she recalls correctly, she didn’t so much as blink an eye.

This started off like any other mission, until she got caught. Until she spent those ten minutes under Hyojin’s interrogation and felt something other than apathy, and greater than intrigue.

She looks towards the bedroom where Hyojin’s resting, imagining the rise and fall of her chest corresponding to her every breath.

_Who the hell are you._

 

\---

 

They’re all sitting in silence, sort of. Hyelin’s on her phone, texting in rapid fire while Solji and Heeyeon are holding a conversation on their own in the corner, sliding the occasional looks at Junghwa every now and then.

Junghwa, she’s exhausted. It’s past dawn by now and she’s been up for thirty some hours already. She thought about closing her eyes but the idea of sleep is even more unappealing than her current zombie-like status.

There’s a noise from the bedroom, and Heeyeon rushes to her side first. Junghwa snaps out of her stupor and turns her head curiously in that direction.

She watches as Heeyeon whispers something back to Hyojin and then nods before standing up.

“You,” she points at Junghwa, “She wants to talk to you.”

“Me?” she repeats dumbly.

“Yeah you,” Heeyeon replies. “She’s asking specifically for you.”

She’s always been nimble on her feet, an occupational necessity. But now, she feels sluggish, each step heavier than the next, as if she’s dragging along someone twice her body weight. The trepidation, it builds with every stride she takes.

When she’s finally standing next to Hyojin, she doesn’t know what to do, what to say, what to feel.

“Come closer,” Hyojin beckons with one hand.

She obliges, and is met with Hyojin pulling her ear roughly with her hand.

“You’re such a pain in the ass you know,” Hyojin groans, finally letting go after giving it a hard squeeze.

Junghwa’s confused. Her tone doesn’t betray the bitterness or anger she’d initially expected. Instead it’s the same kind of exasperation she saw from Solji earlier.

“What-”

“You don’t remember me do you?”

“Remember?” Junghwa lingers on the word. “From what? Your file?”

Hyojin sighs, and then looks at her again. “I knew you once. Back when we were still kids.”

Kids…….she doesn’t remember having any friends when she was younger. Unless -

“The orphanage,” Junghwa blurts out. “You were there?”

Hyojin nods. “For a bit, until I got tossed out.”

She’s straining to think, racking her brain for any memory of Hyojin from the days of old. She’s always hated that place, the orphanage. And maybe it’s that subconscious block in her memory that’s preventing her from remembering.

“I-I can’t remember,” Junghwa croaks out. “Why can’t I remember?”

“Maybe you were too young,” Hyojin then adds. “Or maybe they did something to you after, I don’t know. But I remember you.”

It’s frustrating, like Hyojin could see the entire picture when Junghwa only had the bits and pieces. It’s unfair - she has the upper hand here.

“Were we friends?” Junghwa asks, trying to level the playing ground.

Hyojin contemplates, too long for it to be a definitive yes. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’d like to think so.”

“Wouldn’t you know?”

Hyojin shakes her head and coughs a little. Junghwa fights the urge to stroke the curve of her shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

“We didn’t talk that much, only sometimes, during training sessions,” Hyojin remarks. Junghwa remembers those as clear as day. The consistent daily trainings and evaluations. She hated them, even though she scored top of the class every time.

“So we weren’t really friends,” Junghwa concludes.

Hyojin lets out a half smile, and brings one hand slowly to her face. If it was anyone else, Junghwa would have jumped back a whole feet or at least flinched. Instead she just sits there and lets Hyojin cup her cheek ever so gingerly.

“You drew me a sunflower once.”

 

\--

 


End file.
